Unit 16 - Analyse of purpose

Storytelling

Once all the footage has been filmed, the film does not become a story until the editor puts everything together.

Storytelling is a way to show people events by telling them or showing them different ways. But in this case storytelling is mostly told through movies, something we watch. The purposes of storytelling can vary from different things for example, it can romance, comedy, non - ficiton, real life events etc. These stories will also have elements such the plot of the story, the narrative within and the different points of view throughout the film.


When telling a story in a film there key shots that are always used to tell the story and for the audience to know what is happening. The first shot which is used is the establishing shot. This tells the viewer what is happening, who the character is, where they live and what is happening around the person. It gives the viewer an idea of what type of film they are watching and what it will be about.

Creating pace

Creating pace is when a film speeds up or slows down certain parts of the film. The pace changes in a movie to make the audience feel a certain way and understand the movie. For example, if the movie paces slows down which you would expect to see in a love or sad movie the pace will have longer cuts as it allows the audience to understand the characters and the scene.  However, if the movie paces picks up, which you would normally see in action movies there would be car chases, fighting or running as there would be scenes cutting quickly and moving to other shots to create a fast pace.





Combining shots into sequences

This is the process of placing shots together and making them flow together. It starts when all the shots have been edited, and once that is done they are placed into a sequence. The quality of the editing will determine how smoothly the sequence will flow. When combing shots into a sequence it must be invisible to the audience so they don't notice when it happens.


Development of drama

The way footage is edited can show the drama of the film. It is popular to use this with reaction shot to make the audience shock. For example, when a film is keeping  information is a good way to develop drama as we see the victims reaction and we also have our own reaction making us shocked, or scared. This is commonly used in horrors. Scream has used this in the phone call scene where they leave the audience questioning who is on the phone, who are they and why are they doing this. As it progresses we are fed little bits to help us understand before the drama comes making us feel what they want us to feel.



Creating motivation

This is a technique, where two shots are put together, which both provide pieces of information about what is happening within the scene, but you find out separately whats happening. So for example, a shot could be shown of a woman staring into the distance. The shot will cut to where the woman is looking at. This shows us what the woman is looking at and why she is looking there. 

Engaging viewer

Engaging the view is very important in a movie because it shows whether the audience are going to carry on watching the movie or if they are going to get bored of it and not continuing. There are different ways to engage a viewer but the genre that does it best is horror movies. For example, it's the little things that scare the viewers and makes them jumpy and not knowing what to expect next which makes the want to carry on and see what happens to the character.







Relationship to genre

When editing genres of film there are different conventions, techniques and styles to use to show us what type of genre we will be watching. It captures the audience's attention because if it turns out to be a genre they enjoy then they will watch it, because the techniques used are what draw them into watching it.

For example, action movies. They use fast paced editing because this is what the audience would expect from the film and because this is the nature of an action movie. Fast pace editing gives the audience a sense of danger but also excitement to know what will happen next. It's what makes them want to carry on watching and get them interested. Fast moving shots will always be used in action films because of the car chases, fight scenes, the violence and explosions. These will make the people watching it entertained. 'Fast and furious' is a film that uses a lot of quick shots, are fast paced moving to different shots rapidly. This builds up tension and also excites us because we want to know who will the race. It also shows close-up of the men faces as some of them we can see them looking determined to win, another looks worried that he will lose and another looks confident. This helps us to see what the character is thinking.


Romantic comedies are a genre that use slow pace editing. The editing is done this way so we can be more involved with the movie and also understand what is happening. This is because it focuses on a man and woman falling in love and the problems they go through. This type of genre needs to be slow because if the scene is sad it will make the audience cry at what is happening. A lot mid shots are also used in this genre to keep things neutral and to also show the two main characters body language towards each other. Unlike horrors and action movies when low and high shots are used this genre used eye line match to show the balanced relationship between the characters. There is no intimidating the character or looking superior. This type of genre will also focus more on setting the scene and the characters who the movie is based around on. An example of a movie is '6 years' this movie does a good job which the slow paced and the continuity of natural flow the scene has. 

Unit 16 - Preparing material for editing

Unit 16 - Evaluation of editing techniques

Study Session

 

















Parallel editing - This is alternating between two or more scenes that happen simultaneously but in different locations. 

We showed a parallel editing of me going up the lift and then it changing to Marcelo in the study room revising his book. 



Short-reverse-shot - is a technique which shows a conversation between two characters. This will show a character looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character.

When me and my partner Marcelo were talking, we had our camerawoman Anastasia first show the camera on me talking to Marcelo than when he spoke it switched to me. Anastasia also used an over the shoulder when we were talking. 



180 degree - This rule states that the cameras should remain the same side of an imaginary line. It is perpendicular to the cameras viewpoint in the establishing scene. It enforces continuity within a film. 

After I sat down on the sofa and began talking to Marcelo, Anastasia began to move around me and Marcelo on our sides to show the 180 degree rule. 


Graphic shot - Graphic matches are useful in relating two otherwise disconnected scenes, or in helping to establish a relationship between two scenes.  By ending one shot with a frame containing the same elements (shape, colour, size, etc.) as the beginning frame of the next shot, a connection is drawn between the two shots with a smooth transition.

Because the beginning started of with a lift we thought a good graphic match would be a zipper. As the doors of the lift open we see Marcelo unzipping his coat. 



Match on action - this is an editing technique which is continuity editing in which one shot cut to another shot showing the action of a subject in the first shot. 

After I leave the lift I made my way to a door where it started from filming behind me to in front of me to show me entering the room. 

Unit 16 - Study session

Unit 16 - History of editing

Editing impacts in filming 


Edwin porter 

The Great Train Robbery not only was the first narrative film it also introduced several new editing techniques. For example, rather than staying on one set Edwin Porter took his crew to ten different locations. Edwin Porter had also included a scene in which he panned the camera to follow the characters as they ran across a creek and into the trees to fetch their horses. Another editing technique Edwin Porter introduced in The Great Train Robbery was crosscutting. Edwin Porter had made a big impact on the audience when it was released, as people had never seen anything like this before. It became a popular movie and entertained the audience, as the scenes were shocking to them seeing this.  Edison had made such an impact for his audiences as he was able to engage his audience into films as a story would from from these cuts.

D.W Griffith 

D.W Griffith realised that emotions can be portrayed though camera angles and pace of editing. He realised it wasn’t just the actors that could make the audience feel emotions when watching. The effect this had on the audience was because he found this out he could make them feel different emotions when they were watching films. This is because films at the time only usually used long shot. However D.W Griffith introduces close up were he showed his audience the actors/actresses face which made a big impact as he could make movies more entreating with the close up shot. D.W Griffth also introduced another editing technique was parallel editing or cross cutting in his film the brith of a nation were he constantly cuts between scenes to heighten tension. This made it more entertaining for audience as it would excite them to know what would happen in the movie and keep them on the edge of their seats wanting to know what happens. 

Sergei Eisenstein

Sergei Eisenstein was that he was the first ever director/editor to create and produce a propaganda film which he was Known for his use of montage, Eisenstein was capable of directing audience emotions through juxtaposition of images that would collectively bear a given meaning. This is one of the most celebrated scenes in the film is the massacre of civilians on the Odessa Steps. This scene has been described as one of the most influential in the history of cinema, because it introduced concepts of film editing and montage to cinema. That scene was a dramatic effect and made the audience tense in anticipation for what would happen.

Jean luc Godard 

Jean Luc Godard is known for his movie Breathless which is known for its style of editing, which made the jump cut popular and acceptable. Films at the time were expected to follow a smooth way of editing, with every cut following a pattern. However, Godard used unexpected, quick jumps in editing. Jean Godard made use of jump cuts when the actor Michel passes a lot of cars on the road. The audience are then given a POV shot from his point of view on the street were quickly passing car there after car were. Jean Godard then shows us the same action over and over again, without fluidity or polish which gives the audience a thrill as its something new for them to see as it was something different from what the other movies were doing at the time. 



Alfred Hitchcock 

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was the most famous murder scene due to Hitchcock using fast cut editing, montage cutting and inter cutting of slow motion. The famous shower scene in Psycho uses montage to hide the violence. You never see the knife penetrating the girl. The impression of violence is done with quick editing, and the killing takes place inside the viewer's head rather than the screen. The effect this had on the audience was suspense on the scene and waiting in anticipation to end up scaring them even if they didn’t see the murder they will jump in fright.

Unit 16 - Identify and analyse editing techniques

Definition's

Continuity/ match on action - This editing technique makes the film flow smoothly and correctly as it unfolds consistently. This editing technique is about creating action whilst making the audience not notice the edits. For example, a film that has good continuity editing is the star wars fight scene. Using continuity in a fast paced scene like this made the audience excited and interested as to what happen next in the scenes. This is because when watching this the audience don't notice the edits but it also stops them from getting bored from the scene as they eager to see what happens next.

180 degree rule - This is when a camera should be placed somewhere inside 180 degrees on a particular side of the invisible line shot where two people will be filmed. The two characters should always have a left/right relationship to each other. It is usually used when people are having a conversation and are opposite each other. It allows the audience to see unseen movement. An example, of a film that uses this is the pulp fiction diner scene. The use of using this editing technique is by making the film looking realistic to the audience. This keeps them more entertained as they believe what they are watching is real, letting them get lost in the movie.

Cutting to the beat - This is when a scene cuts to a beat or a significant beat in the music to make a scene stand out. For example, using this in a movie will give it more attention as it would engage the audience to the scene. Using this would also emphasis the lyrics if the movie wants to get a clear message across to the audience.  A movie that cuts to a beat is despicable me. This is when the movie goes from soft music to an upbeat party music which would get the audience get into the music more due to the sudden change. It would also make them excited and entertained as the theme has been changed putting them into the same mood as the characters.

Shot-reverse-shot - This is when action between two characters are shown looking at each other.  An example, of a movie that uses shot-reverse-shot is dinner scene in the wolf of wall street. This shot makes the audience think they are looking at each other directly. Using this in a film involves the audience into the dialogue and the story making them apart of the movie. In this scene using shot-reverse-shot is important to use as this scene also lets us see the others reaction when they are talking. The different personalities would also make it very interesting to see what the other is thinking at each scene. As Leonardo Dicaprio is very shy while Matthew McConaughey's character is very talkative and excited making this scene interesting for the audience, to know what the other is going to say and what their reaction will be like.

Montage - The technique of selecting, editing, and piecing together separate sections of film to form a continuous whole. It is used in fast paced and tells a story. An example, of this is hot fuzz. The opening sequence to the film starts of straight away with the person telling the audience his story and the quick scenes to go with it. This is used to inform the audience and to make them get into the film as the film starts of intense which would make them want to watch more. 





Jump cuts - This is an abrupt transition that goes from one scene to another. This would be used to scare the audience by making the audience jump in fright from what they see. An example, of this being used is in the shinning. When the little boy sees the two little girls it jumps to us seeing them dead which would make the audience scared from the abrupt jump cut. 








Cutaways - Cross cutting is mainly used in film editing and is where the camera will cut away from one piece of action to another piece of action. It is used to make a sequence longer. Family guy is a great example that uses cutaway, as throughout the series they are always using this type of technique when they are showing something funny. This sort of cutaway would make the audience laugh when they see certain things been shown. 








Parallel editing - Parallel editing (also known as cross-cutting), is a film editing  technique of continuity editing  that establishes the relationship between two subjects by cutting from one to the other. One of the most important effects of the parallel edit is that of simultaneous, suggesting that two events occur at the same time. An example, of a movie that uses parallel editing is inception in the synchronized kick. This is parallel shot between the dream world and real world. This is used to create anticipation for the audience as to now what would happen next. 



Transitions 


Wipes - this is when one shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another with a special shape. It helps to distinguish between two shots during the transition. An example, of a movie that uses transitions is star wars the empire strikes back. This is a good way to show changing location to the audience so it doesn't take up too much time and it looks good. 

Fade in/out - Fades can be used between shots to create a sort of cross fade which, for example, fades briefly to white before fading to the next shot. The movie black swan uses this transition during the ending when it fades to white. This makes the ending more dramatic for the audience as it just ends with a white light as they don't know what happens next. 






Dissolves - this effect layers two clips together so there is a seamless transition from one picture to another. A dissolve is a subliminal way to tell your audience that there is a passing of time, location or subject matter without flat out saying this. This would make the audience interested into the dissolve to see what would happen next. 

Graphic match - This a cut editing between two different objects, two different spaces or two different compositions in which two objects graphically match. This cut’s intention is to skip forward or backward in time while maintaining a continuity of action and creating a metaphorical link between the images that bookend the cut. It can serve comedic, dramatic. It can be used to gain a certain emotion from the viewer or if you want to gain attention from something. Its interesting for the audience to watch and would make them want to watch more.

Unit 16 - Timeline